BBC NEWS

EU plans biometric border checks

Visitors to the EU could face digital fingerprinting at airports under plans to beef up border security, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has said.

He said travellers from outside the EU could face a biometric test as part of their visa while those not needing a permit would be checked on arrival.

There are also plans to improve border surveillance and land and sea patrols.

Rights group Privacy International said the move could create a "fortress Europe" for foreigners.

And the European Council on Refugees in Exile complained that the tighter the restrictions, the harder it would become for people to seek safety from persecution.

MetaMute.org

Jaya Klara Brekke talks to four UK based groups working to improve conditions for migrants and asks ‘how does one organise in the dark?’

Workers’ struggles to improve conditions traditionally voice demands for visibility, rights and citizenship. But when visibility brings with it the risk of detention and deportation other strategies may be necessary. Equally, when rights are dependent on the whims of employers, how desirable are they? The experience of migration and illegality is multiple and contingent on the resources of class, race, gender and income. Campaigns and struggles therefore cohere around diverse experiences, involve different levels of risk and confrontation, and mobilise such disparate groups as church congregations, community groups, activist networks, unions, mosques, and national associations. The tactics and positions employed entail conflicting ideas about whether or not to collaborate with the state. Here Jaya Klara Brekke talks to four UK based groups working to improve conditions for migrants and asks ‘how does one organise in the dark?’ Their answers describe the day to day experience of a tightening immigration system and responses to it, from direct resistance and support work to proposals for reform.

More photos here

8.18.07 Yesterday was the day of action at the Ukraine No Border Camp. Near the camp are two immigration prisons where people trying to enter the EU are incarcerated. After hearing first-hand from an ex-detainee about the conditions inside the Pavshinov camp, some participants of the No Border camp decided to pay these prisons a visit. These were the first demonstrations against these prisons in the area.

Indymedia UK

two activists from No Border groups in the UK are currently at the No Border camp in the Ukraine. This is their first report back.

About 300 people are currently meeting in the foothills of the Transcarparthian mountains. They are from the Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia, Israel, New Zealand, Poland, Finland, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Greece, UK, United States and probably other places we have forgotten.

Indymedia UK
On Tuesday 10 people demonstrated outside Lindholme Immigration Centre, in solidarity with asylum seekers incarcerated there and elsewhere, and for the closure of all such centres. The demonstration was met by a large and nervous response by the South Yorkshire police.

No Borders UK

All over the world, refugees and migrants are being locked up in special prisons, disguised under various names, for the only 'crime' of fleeing wars or persecution or wanting to improve their lives. Without trial and with no automatic bail review, they can face months and years of incarceration in terrible conditions, before being forcibly deported to unsafe countries. The very idea of 'administrative detention' is a violation of people's basic human rights and fundamental freedoms. There have also been numerous reports of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of 'staff', lack or denial of medical care, obstruction of detainees' trying to handle their legal matters and so on. In the most extreme cases, these desperate conditions have led migrant prisoners to take their own lives.

Around 10:30pm on Saturday, July 4th, a riot broke out in Campsfield House, Oxfordshire, leading to 26 migrants escaping the immigration prison. 15 have since been recaptured, while the rest are still on the run. It followed a yard protest on Tuesday night against the appalling conditions inside the detention centre, which is run by American company GEO, and the discriminatory decisions of Newport immigration court, which is used for bail hearings and appeals involving Campsfield detainees. A hunger strike was started on Wednesday but was put on hold pending a meeting with Home Office representatives on Friday. A further yard protest on Friday night was held as the meeting failed to meet the prisoners' demands. Three solidarity demos were held on Tuesday midday at Campsfield House, Lindholme (Doncaster) and the Communication House (London) [reports: 1 | 2 | 3 ].

Last week, a revolt in a detention centre in Bari, Italy, led to at least 35 migrants escaping. Three weeks ago, 69 Tamil detainees in 5 detention centres, including Campsfield, went on hunger strike against a Home Office decision to deport them back to Sri Lanka [appeal]. Many are still on hunger strike while two Sri Lankan detainees in Harmondswoth, near Heathrow, have been on hunger strike for almost a month (see also Immigration detention: Unworkable).

Links: Campaign to Close Campsfield | No Borders UK